Process of treating belt leather



Patented June 24, 1930 JAMES mwnnnor BUFFALO, NEW YORK PROCESS OF TREATING BELT LEATHER No Drawing.

may also be used as a leather belt dressing in the treatment of old or new belts to preserve the leather and restore or maintain its efficiency.

At the outset it may be pointed out that during the manufacture of leather, it is necessary to curry it, that is to say, stuff it with an oil composition in order to restore the oils Which were extracted during the previous processing of the leather and thereby lubricate the fibers of the leather, render it pliable and increase its tensile strength. While various compositions or combinations of oils and other ingredients have been employed for th1s purpose it is generally recognized that the best results are obtained when tallow is used as the principal ingredient. It should be noted, however, that regardless of the composition utilized and even though it includes tallow, the belts produced by the known process are not, when new, as flexible as old or used belts nor do they have as large a coeflicient of friction. In fact, they must be broken in, that is to say operated for a period of six weeks more or less before they attain the requisite operating characteristics.

Tallow has also been recognized, heretofore, as one of the best leather preservatives or belt dressings now available but its use as such has been seriously limited because of the fact that, when initially applied, it reduces the coefl'icient of friction of the belt to an extent such as to render the belt useless for the time being. When it is desired to use tallow, it is, therefore, necessary to apply it in small quantities over a considerable period of time or to make the complete application at once and then run the belt without load until its coeflieoient of friction returns to normal. This latter period usually requires six weeks more or less and is comparable to the break- 1 in in period of a new belt.

T have found by experiment that when Application filed January 22, 1929. Serial No. 334,372.

blown tallow is used as a currying agent, it produces, in addition to the expected results arising from the use of ordinary or unblown tallow, the beneficial and unexpected result of increasing the flexibility and coefficient of friction of the leather to an extent such that a new belt produced from such leather will operate at least as efficiently as an old orused belt. Consequently a belt produced from leather which has been curried with blown tallow, may be used immediately for 00 power transmission purposes without being broken in.

I have also found, by experiment, that blown tallow. may be used as a belt dressing with all the expected advantages attending the similar use of unblown tallow but without the expected result of decreasing the coeflicient of friction thereby causing the belt to slip. A complete application of a belt dressing composed wholly or in part of blown tallow may, therefore, be made atone time with gut decreasing the operating efiiciency of the elt.

Blown tallow is produced by liquefying ordinary tallow through the application of heat and blowing air through the liquefied mass for a sustained period. I have found that thereby I increase the viscosity of the mass. The heating and blowing of the tallow should be continued until the mass becomes quite viscous and, in practice, I have found that good results are obtained by heating the tallow to approximately 270 F. and then blowing it for a period of some thirtysix hours. F or the currying operation the ultimate material may consist entirely of blown tallow or it' may be composed of a mixture of blown tallow and other substances such as soap, fish oils, etc., in accordance with the prior practice. These additional substances, particularly the fish oils, may be, and preferably are, blown. The blowing operation in such case, may be performed either before or after they have been mixed 95 with the tallow. The ultimate composition,

when prepared, preferably is worked into the leather by rolling or-tumbling the leather in a drum containing the composition but it may, of course, be otherwise applied. 10o

The ultimate material utilized for belt dressing purposes may consist wholly of blown tallow or it may be composed of a mixture of blown tallow and one or more of the other substances heretofore used such as neats foot oil, tar, pitch, asphalt, resin and degras. In any case it is of stable form so that it may be readily rubbed into the leather. Where additional substances are used they may be mixed with the tallow either before or after the blowing operation but the substances of a character such as neats foot oil and degras preferably are blown or mixed with the tallow before the blowing operation while the other substances like pitch tar, etc. preferably are mixed after the tallow has been blown.

Leather belting is more widely used than other kinds of belting such as canvas. Hence the process will be principally used for the treatment of leather belting. It should be understood, however, that the process is applicable in the same manner and for the same purposes and with the same results to other kinds of belting which may have the capacity for absorbing the blown- Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The process of treating belt leather to condition it for immediate use consisting in impregnating it to a suitable degree with blown tallow v 2. The process of treating belt leather to condition it for immediate use consisting in impregnating it to a suitable degree with a material having blown tallow as an ingredient.

3. The process of treating belt leather to condition it for immediate use consisting in currying it with blown tallow.

4. The process of treating belt leather to condition it for immediate use consisting in currying it with a material having blown tallow as an ingredient.

5. The process of treating belting having grease-absorbing power to'condition it for immediate use consisting in impregnating it to a suitable degree with blown tallow.

6. The process of treating belting having grease-absorbing power to condition it for immediate use consisting in impregnating it to a suitable degree with a material having blown tallow as an ingredient.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- JAMES A. WEBB. 

